Site Donated by Blue Rock Station

Green Living

Sign up for Announcements

'Fayre' extols virtues of living
simply - Fairgoers learn ways
to use less water, electricity
Tuesday,  September 4, 2007 3:23 AM
By Meredith Heagney
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

It isn't easy living green.
Cars, plastic containers and store-bought food
shipped from who-knows-where make life
convenient.
But a "green living" movement in Ohio is trying
to teach people to rethink the way they use
resources to avoid the cost associated with such conveniences.
To that end, the first Ohio Green Living Fayre was held yesterday at the organic Flying J Farm in Johnstown.
The archaic variation on fair harkens to simpler times, when people were more connected with the environment and local products, said organizer Annie Warmke.
"We're still living a suburban lifestyle that acts as if everything's endless," said Warmke, who lives with her husband, Jay, in a home south of Zanesville made of tires, cans, bottles and straw.
The fair offered workshops on natural medicines, harnessing rainwater and living in a chemical-free home. Two Percheron horses pulled a trailer carrying visitors from the parking area to the fair.
Visitors looked over solar ovens and washing machines that used a third less water. Men and boys were encouraged to visit the "wee bale" -- a bale of straw behind the barn -- rather than the portable toilets.
Conservation takes a little extra work, but it's a rewarding way to live, fairgoers said.
"I know I'm contributing to my environment and my environment is contributing to me," said Elizabeth Sumney, 21, an intern with Simply Living, one of the nonprofits that was to receive profits from the fair, which cost $5 a person.
Simply Living is dedicated to lowering people's effect on the environment.
Tom Paulson, 12, made a solar oven out of a pizza box, tin foil, newspaper and a sheet of plastic while his friend Tao Quan, 12, munched on organic cheese bread. The Upper Arlington boys are seventh-graders.
Tom and the other children who made the contraption were told it could heat up hot dogs and s'mores.
Tom said he likes to eat organic foods when he can, especially now that he's learning at school about what fertilizers do to the environment.
"It makes me feel better that I'm not contributing to the big problem, with all the fertilizer going into the sea" and killing aquatic life, he said.
Bev Fox, a teacher at the Life Skills Center on E. Dublin-Granville Road, said more educational opportunities such as the fair are needed. Fox, who lives in Sunbury, sees many students whose diets revolve around the vending machine.
"There's a need for education that there's a healthier way to eat, and it's not out of plastic."

mheagney@dispatch.com
Copyright © 2007, The Columbus Dispatch